Outfielder J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox has been named the American League Player of the Week presented by W.B. Mason for the period ending May 20th.
Martinez batted .346 (9-for-26) with seven runs scored, two doubles, five home runs, eight RBI and three walks over seven games played to earn his seventh career Player of the Week Award, last winning the NL Player of the Week Award with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the period ending September 17, 2017. Among qualified AL leaders, J.D. finished the week first in home runs, extra-base hits (7) and total bases (26); second in RBI and slugging percentage (1.000); tied for third in runs scored; and seventh in hits. This is Boston's first weekly award of the 2018 season, and the first since J.D.'s All-Star teammate Mookie Betts on July 2, 2017.
In a home tilt on Monday against the Oakland Athletics, Martinez went 2-for-4 with his 11th home run on the season. With 53 hits and 11 round-trippers, the 2015 All-Star became the seventh player in team history to record at least 10 homers and 50 hits in the Club's first 40 games, joining Manny Ramirez (2001), Mo Vaughn (1994, 96, 98), Dwight Evans (1981), and Hall of Famers Jim Rice (1978), Ted Williams (1948, 57) and Jimmie Foxx (1938, 40). In Sunday afternoon's contest against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park, the Miami, Florida native logged his first multi-homer game of the season to lead Boston to a 5-0 victory. With the pair of round-trippers, the right-handed-hitting slugger matched Betts for the most home runs in the Majors (15). This is the first time in Red Sox lore that two players have clubbed at least 15 home runs within the first 50 games of a season. In addition, the 2015 Silver Slugger Award winner extended his career-best on-base streak to 25 games, marking the longest such streak by a Red Sox hitter since Mookie's stretch of 29 games in 2016. Martinez, who enters play today with a .343/.397/.680 slash line on the season, is currently the only player in the Majors with at least 12 doubles, 15 home runs and 41 RBI. Led in large part by their explosive offense, the Red Sox (32-15) enter today's action tied for first in the AL East with the New York Yankees (30-13).
Outfielder Andrew Benintendi (.444, 5 R, 3 HR, 9 RBI) also delivered a strong week at the plate for Boston. The 23-year-old recorded four multi-hit games and clubbed a pair of homers over the weekend to bring his season total to five. Entering play today, Benintendi has recorded at least one RBI in each of his previous four outings, leading Boston to a 3-1 record in that span. Other noteworthy performances last week included J.D. and Andrew's aforementioned teammate Betts (.387, 6 R, 12 H, 4 SB); starting pitcher Andrew Heaney (1-1, 1.64, 14.0 IP, 17 SO) of the Los Angeles Angels; first baseman Tyler Austin (.545, 3 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI) of the Yankees; third baseman Matt Chapman (.458, 7 R, 11 H, 5 2B), starting pitcher Robert Mengden (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 IP) and closer Blake Treinen (4.1 IP, 4 SV, 2.08 ERA) of the Athletics; closer Alex Colomé (4 SV, 0.00 ERA, 5 SO) of the Tampa Bay Rays; and shortstop Jean Segura (.414, 6 R, 12 H, 4 SB) of the Seattle Mariners.
In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, J.D. Martinez will be awarded a watch courtesy of Rockwell.